FreeBSD is a UNIX-like operating system for the i386, amd64, IA-64, arm, MIPS, powerpc, ppc64, PC-98 and UltraSPARC platforms based on U.C. Berkeley's "4.4BSD-Lite" release, with some "4.4BSD-Lite2" enhancements. It is also based indirectly on William Jolitz's port of U.C. Berkeley's "Net/2" to the i386, known as "386BSD", though very little of the 386BSD code remains. FreeBSD is used by companies, Internet Service Providers, researchers, computer professionals, students and home users all over the world in their work, education and recreation. FreeBSD comes with over 20,000 packages (pre-compiled software that is bundled for easy installation), covering a wide range of areas: from server software, databases and web servers, to desktop software, games, web browsers and business software - all free and easy to install.

To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.

Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "kdelibs" and "plasma-desktop" packages and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.

What are your thoughts on FreeBSD?Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
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Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 11.1Rating: 10Date: 2018-01-11Votes: 22

Pros:
+ Clean and Tidy
+ Fast
+ Reliable
+ Great and friendly community
+ Best documentation you will ever find in any OS
+ Booting from NVMe just works. Unlike Linux where it is a pita

Cons:
- People who complain that there is bad driver support but forget that FreeBSD (like Linux) is a community effort and that no driver gets written by complaining but by actually writing one.

It's my daily driver on the server and my notebook (currently Lenovo P50) for years now (at least since 7.0). If you want to use it, it is the same as it has been for Linux for a very long time: Get good hardware and not the cheap no-name stuff and you are golden. Sometimes I install a Linux to try out stuff and I find out fairly quick that it has enough of its own problems that people just don't see anymore because they are accustomed to them already.

One last thing: Don't just use an Open Source OS, contribute to it in any form and if it is just correcting spelling mistakes in the documentation. You can also contribute by giving to the FreeBSD Foundation

"If 386BSD had been available when I started on Linux, Linux would probably never had happened." - Linus Torwalds

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Version: 12-CURRENTRating: 10Date: 2017-12-28Votes: 7

I'm not quite sure what's all this talk of FreeBSD not being suitable for desktop use. Been using it with XFCE for quite some time and everything works just dandy. No hardware problems at all.

What an amazing OS with glorious history behind it.

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Version: 11.1Rating: 10Date: 2017-12-23Votes: 4

FreeBSD is a VERY stable and solid operating system. No systemd or pulseaudio nonsense, very simple straightforward administration that can be relied on to remain that way. FreeBSD Jail containers are better in most areas than Linux LXC/LXD/Docker/etc nonsense as well. What's not to like???